F1 Race Stars Exclusive Valencia Edition PlayStation 3

Released on 16/11/2012

F1 Race Stars Exclusive Valencia Edition

This special edition includes a free download code for an additional European Track set around the speedy city streets of Valencia, where gamers can race through a marina, speed across super-slippy ice and dodge flying tomatoes in single-player, split-screen and online.

 

F1 Racing takes a different turn in F1 Race Stars for PlayStation 3.

Get ready to experience Formula One cars, teams and circuits like never before with F1 Race Stars from Codemasters Racing, the home of the BAFTA-awarding winning series of HD official Formula One games. Coming this November, F1 Race Stars is a fast-to-the-fun arcade racing game for all ages featuring the official Formula One cars, teams and circuits as they’ve never been seen before. Drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have been transformed into personality-packed heroes bursting with charm and character and stunning Formula One locations have become exhilarating racing theme parks designed for speed and wheel-to-wheel competition.

Players will jostle for position on every straight, hairpin, jump and loop-the-loop with chaotic racing and a range of power-ups for players to collect and deploy as they sprint for the chequered flag. Officially licensed to feature the full cast of Formula One stars and teams and packing an extensive range of game modes, including numerous Championships, Time Trials, 4-player split-screen racing and online multiplayer,

F1 Race Stars takes Formula One over the top for racing fans of all ages.

Formula One Stars as Never Seen Before! In F1 Race Stars, the whole cast of Formula One stars become personality-packed, toonified heroes driving all-new F1 Race Stars cars representing each team from the 2012 FIA Formula One WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP on a range of 11 super-fast, feature-packed circuits. Codemasters Racing Studios has drawn upon its vast experience in track design and racing AI and let its game designers and artists off the leash to create a fresh new Formula One experience.

It's a Formula of Fun For All - With instantly accessible pick-up-and-play gameplay, F1 Race Stars will enable players of all ages and abilities to dive straight into position-swapping, wheel-to-wheel competition. With up to 4-players competing in split-screen multiplayer, head-to-head competition or coming together in teams, F1 Race Stars is perfect for sharing the fun with friends and family. Up to 12 players can also race in online multiplayer and by signing up to RaceNet, the free online extension for Codemasters Racing games, players can track their races, rivals and rewards and join in regular F1 Race Stars community events.

A New World of Formula One - Race circuits that take inspiration from the most exciting tracks from the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship will bring a new world of Formula One alive as each becomes a fantasy racing theme park featuring jumps, multiple-routes, shortcuts, and more. Gamers will negotiate Spa’s iconic Eau Rouge with a range of power ups before taking on a death-defying loop-the-loop in Belgium, race across speeding bullet trains in Japan and hit the accelerator to leap the swimming pool at Monaco and much, much more.

Powered Up Racing - Players can speed past rivals by collecting and deploying a range of power ups liberally spread throughout each of the circuits. Just some of the power ups include using the Safety Car to hold up other drivers, slowing the competition with Wet Weather or calling down a Rain Cloud on the leader. In the sprint to the line, gamers can drive through Racing Line zones and collect KERS to slingshot drivers ahead and slipstream behind other racers to close the gap on their rivals.

Sprint To Be A Champion - F1 Race Stars game modes including a range of globe-trotting Championships, Free Play so gamers can dive straight into their favourite events and Time Trials where players can set the best time in their household, download friends’ ghost cars and climb online ladders in a test of flat-out speed on every track.

• F1 Race Stars - Review

  
  

  

  Super Hamilton Kart

  Codemasters has already produced three well-received simulation racing games based on Formula One, the world's most popular motorsport, but it's come up with a very different approach for this spin-off. This is F1 meets Mario Kart - a colourful, kid-friendly arcade racer with over-the-top tracks, chaotic action, weapon power-ups and a cartoon style.

  F1 Race Stars a fun take on a sport that often takes itself too seriously, and F1 fans will get a kick out of seeing their favourite drivers from the 2012 line-up, from Lewis Hamilton to Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, rendered as bobble-headed cartoons. Most of them are accurate, funny and cute likenesses too (although we'd challenge anyone to pick Jenson Button out of a blind line-up). The miniature toon-style cars look great as well, although it's a shame that the drivers' silly exclamations sound nothing like them.

  Rather than accurately represent the tracks, Codemasters has come up with a series of spectacular fantasy versions which borrow the setting and style of the originals, plus maybe a couple of famous corners. On top of these they add huge jumps, multiple routes, short-cuts, ridiculous animated hazards (like giant mechanical sumo wrestlers in Japan) and more. At times they more closely resemble rollercoasters than racing circuits (the Abu Dhabi one actually has you drive on a coaster) - which is just as it should be in a kart racer.

  

  Button Mashing

  Things are mostly as you would expect from a Mario Kart-style game, but there are a few tweaks to the formula. For example, the weapons - characterised as bubbles and balloons, presumably because F1 bosses didn't like the idea of strapping guns to their cars - mostly operate just as you would expect. But get hit in this game and you're not just slowed for a second, you actually take damage which reduces your top speed and can only be repaired by driving through the pits.

  The most surprising change is that you can't power-slide, or drift, around corners, which has been a staple of this genre of racing game ever since it was invented 20 years ago with Super Mario Kart. It takes a little getting used to, but the very slight focus on more realistic cornering, where you have to slow down and take the right line, is at least faithful to the spirit of F1. Lest you become worried that things are getting too realistic, there's also a whole range of ways to get massive speed boosts, from slipstreaming, to executing a perfect landing, or pumping the throttle through certain corners (actually based on a real-life F1 technology called KERS).

  It's a shame that there isn't more variation and feel in the handling of the karts as they barrel along the wild courses, riding river rapids one minute and climbing vertical banking the next. But the tracks are really pretty and well-designed, and it's all cracking good fun - especially in company, as is always the case with this kind of racing game.

  

  Webber Deceit

  Thankfully, you never need to play F1 Race Stars on your own (unless you want to play Time Trial). There's support for four-player split-screen as well as online multiplayer - even, brilliantly, both at the same time. You can create custom races using a wide range of options; there are several alternative race types and some fun modifiers (such as reversing the lead driver's steering), and you can tweak the balance of the power-ups and how damage works.

  You can also take four local players into the game's career mode, which covers a huge range of cup tournaments. This is a good thing, because it's a very long mode spread out over just 11 tracks, and the repetition could get a bit much if you were playing it solo.

  But F1 Race Stars is all about larking about in multiplayer, and played that way it's never less than thoroughly entertaining. It might not be the very best kart racer on the market, but it will be hugely appealing to younger F1 fans - maybe even older ones who find the realistic approach of the main F1 games too dry or difficult for their tastes. Over and above that, it's a nice change to see a licensed sports game put fun before nerdy authenticity. More of this please!

  GAME's Verdict:

  The Good:

  • A creative use of the F1 licence that fans of the sport will love
  • Solid multiplayer racing action with loads of options
  • Fernando Alonso sings his own name when he overtakes - if only he did this in real life!

  The Bad:

  • The lack of drifting is bizarre, and there's not enough feel to the handling
  • The tracks are spread too thin over an over-long career mode
  • "Cute" cartoon Schumacher will haunt your dreams

  Published: 15/11/2012

• Play Your Karts Right: The Kart Racing Revival Starts Here

  
  

  

  We've never been short of racing games. The past few months alone have seen heavy hitters like Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Forza Horizon and WRC 3 all scream onto the tarmac. There's one sub-genre of racing that hasn't fared so well, however. The karting game.

  Once, these nimble little knockabout racers were everywhere, with practically every game or TV show that could muster enough characters to fill the starting grid getting its own branded kart racer. Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing led the pack, but few will remember Woody Woodpecker Racing or Pac-Man Rally. And the less said about Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing the better.

  Mario Kart sequels aside, the karting genre has dropped off the radar in recent years, but it may be about to stage a triumphant comeback. No less than three karting games are due out this month, and they're all looking pretty great.

  

  Play. Create. Win!

  First off the grid is SONY's LittleBigPlanet Karting, on sale from November 9th. Developed by United Front Games, the studio behind ModNation Racers, this PlayStation 3 exclusive is a cuddly romp through various hand-made courses as Sackboy races to defeat The Hoard, an alien race that grabs the bits and bobs that make up Sackworld, and then sits on them rather than making fun stuff.

  Making fun stuff is a large part of the game, however, as collecting prize bubbles during races means you can customise your personal game pod with stickers and patterns, while the Create Mode brings together features from both LittleBigPlanet and ModNation to allow players to quickly and easily put together their own courses. If you want to get really fancy, you can even use the track designer to create entirely new game modes, such as tower defence challenges.

  There are all the community features you'd expect from LittleBigPlanet as well, with options not only to race against each other, but to tackle story races co-operatively and share the things you make and find.

  

  Go Faster!

  If you prefer your racing with a crisper arcade outlook, rather than lashed together out of wool and cardboard, then SEGA's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will soon be here. The sequel to Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, it once again finds a collection of classic SEGA characters - some legendary, some utterly obscure - taking to the track. The twist this time is that every vehicle will automatically transform to adapt to the terrain. Drive into water and your car becomes a boat! Launch yourself off a ramp and it becomes a plane!

  Each character has its own unique vehicle, depending on their personality. As well as characters from Super Monkey Ball, Golden Axe, Shinobi and other classic SEGA games, real life NASCAR racer Danica Patrick joins the pack, as does Wreck-It Ralph, the star of the upcoming Disney movie about the secret life of video game characters. If you pick up the Xbox 360 version, you'll be able to use your Avatar to join the gang yourself.

  Developed by Sumo Digital, the Sheffield studio behind the recent superb Out Run revival, you can expect the racing model to be absolutely rock solid, while SEGA's iconic blue sky approach to visuals means it's a colourful and characterful joy to play. It goes on sale from November 16th for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A Wii U version will follow on November 30th, when Nintendo's new console launches.

  

  The Winning Formula?

  Last, but certainly not least, is F1 Race Stars from Codemasters. This companion game to the long-running and critically acclaimed F1 simulation series isn't nearly as interested in realism as its big brother. You'll race as cartoon versions of real F1 drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, around tracks loosely inspired by the actual 2012 F1 season. It's not such an outlandish idea - after all, real life kart racing is often the first step towards an actual F1 career - but as this is a game for all the family don't be too surprised if famous tracks like Monaco have been enhanced with a few ramps, loops and stunts, all served up with social multiplayer fun in mind.

  The game came about after Codemasters realised that there was a wider Formula 1 fan base that wasn't up to the stiff challenge of a full-on simulation. "It was very much our vision from the outset to create an F1 game that everyone could enjoy, be that kids, family and friends, or mates before and after the pub," senior producer Chris Gray has said. F1 Race Stars will be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC from November 16th, with a Wii U version to follow.

  So it seems that go-karts are more like buses. You wait ages for one, then three turn up at the same time. The good news is that each of these games pushes this evergreen genre into interesting new directions, playing with the proven Mario Kart formula to serve up distinctive experiences. Whether you play one of them, or try them all, here's hoping we're seeing the full-time return of this fantastically entertaining genre.

  Published: 08/11/2012

• GAME goes to the Eurogamer Expo

  
  

  

  Last week, the GAME online team took a trip to the Eurogamer Expo in London's Earls Court to get our many hands-on some of the top games that we'll all be playing over the coming months.

  The atmosphere at the event was a buzzing and bustling as ever, with gamers coming from far and wide to get their first goes at everything from the Wii U to Assassin's Creed III to Dishonored - which alone had people queuing for over an hour to play!

  With plenty of the team there, we were able to get a chance to play quite a few games. Here's what we thought...

  

  Aliens Colonial Marines

  Tom
  Colonial Marines has been a long time coming. It was announced 4 years ago, and from the time we had during the Eurogamer Expo, for us the wait has been entirely worth it.

  We got to go hands on with the multiplayer side of the game. Taking up arms as the Marines, we strode into the dilapidated area of the complex on LV 426. It is clear, especially with this level, that attention to balancing the levels is key to how the multiplayer will work.

  There were plenty of places to fight back-to-back and funnel the Xenos through giving the marines a sporting chance, but also plenty of narrow corridors for Xenos to get up close, making guns useless, and dark areas for Xenos to avoid detection and hide patiently.

  The weapons for the Colonial Marines are taken from, and inspired by, the film Aliens. Set just 17 days after the events of the film Gearbox haven't taken liberty with the groundwork laid down by the 1986 film, Pulse Rifles sound and look like their movie counterparts, the shotguns have a similar look to the pulse Rifles, not everyone packs a sawn off in space for close encounters!

  And then there is the Motion Tracker, taken straight from the film, this will be your most used tool if separated from team mates. The Motion Tracker will detect movement around you and give the classic beep when an enemy is close by. Only problem here is that you cannot wield a weapon when tracking your foes, and if they stop moving they don't get picked up.

  You'd think that the marines, with guns and motion trackers, would be superior to the Aliens. This really isn't the case! The Aliens are quick, agile and can crawl through ducts and up walls to avoid gunfire or sneak up on unsuspecting prey. On more than one occasion during our playtime in ACM, we'd have aliens attacking from the front whilst a few craftier players crept up behind us and attacked with tails and inner jaws.

  Gearbox has done a great job with Aliens Colonial Marines by using sounds and files from the film to create an authentic "sequel" to Aliens.

  Marc
  The only Alien game I have enjoyed before was Aliens vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar - the others have always disappointed. I approached with some caution, and, I'm very happy to say this didn't let me down!

  I also played the multiplayer map very much based on LV 426. We had to play as the Marines against the Gearbox team as the Aliens, and first of all we had to pick the arsenal that we wanted to use. There was a choice of five classes, one of which had the infamous radar on the assault rifle with a shotgun. I didn't find this straight away but when I did I was rocking and rolling.

  The sound effects were fantastic and sounded just like the film, and the screams of the Aliens were cool too. If I had been at home I would even have partaken in a bit of Hudson shouting" you want some too..." at the point when my screen was awash with my Alien bloodbath.

  But for me, the best thing was that we were told that whoever managed to the score highest would win a t- shirt. As a team, we had lost against the Aliens... but I won that infamous t-shirt! After walking away I listened to customers and their thoughts, and it seemed pretty unanimous that it would definitely be on our radar.

  XCOM: Enemy Unknown

  Damien
  Fans of the original 90s X-COM games needn't worry that this reboot would be moving too far from the RTS traditions. This is still very much a turn-based strategy game, but one that now shines with enhanced visuals and animation to realise the alien-infested world and the XCOM team tasked with protecting it.

  The mission I got to try out was short and sweet, ideal for the pace of turn-based combat, which in turn makes it ideal for RTS fans. The isometric view works great for moving and controlling your team, intercut with closer angles during firefights and to reveal key evidence.

  The pace may be a little slow for those alien (pardon the pun) to turn-based strategy games, but if you are a fan of the genre, this game will surely be a delight.

  

  Rayman Legends

  Robyn
  I Played this in co-op mode with Kirsten. I had control of the GamePad, which mostly showed a replica of the main screen with prompts to guide me what to press/drag/swish etc. I played the supporting role as Murfy while Kirsten took the lead character using the Classic Controller.
  
  It reminded me a bit of Super Mario Galaxy where player two takes a supporting role of collecting stars while player one gets all the key action, but much more interactive and a greater sense of involvement and contribution. We had a great laugh. It was my first time using Wii U but I think I got the hang of it ok! It was hard to sync up our actions and we gave up completing the level in the time we had, but I could imagine my 10yr old LOVING it - this is definitely one for the kids.

  PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

  Damien
  Fast, furious and utterly bonkers, PS AS BR was another addictive treat. Four of us played together and just had huge amounts of fun trying out the different characters and levels where skill very much took a back seat!

  The four-player scramble battles were very much the best way to showcase this game, and the choice of characters and fighting styles made it so much more entertaining than a standard beat 'em up. Dante, Kratos and Cole McGrath proved to be the most powerful, but the real fun was to be had with the likes of Nathan Drake and Sweet Tooth, who take the infinitely fun choice of shooting their opponents.

  With the interactive environment as likely to take you out as the other players, and a kill vs death ratio determining the winner, this takes the best of beat 'em up battles, multiplayer mayhem and SONY's excellent cast of characters to form a game that will keep you grinning every time you play.

  

  Assassin's Creed III

  Robyn
  I'd never played an Assassin's Creed title before, despite my friends' insistence.
  I was lucky enough to have a go at both the demos - first up, Naval Combat. Starting slowly (and that's being very generous!), I had a darn good go at taking control of the ship and unloading several rounds of cannon balls onto my target. Well, most went in the sea, but I got the gist in the end... just as my ship rubbed up against the rocks for the last time. Next time...

  It was such a unique experience with fantastic movement that was so fluid on the water. I didn't think about it at the time but when I think back, I got a sense of being on the ship and movement up and down with the waves, a sense of slowness and heaviness. Very exciting and different, I'd really love to have another go, but perhaps without a queue of not so novice gamers stood behind me whilst I batter the heck out of the ship!

  After this, I had a chance to play the 'On Foot' mission demo where I had to make my character climb a cliff face to carry out his stealth mission and assassinate three enemies. I managed to get to two of them but unfortunately my time ran out before I could get number three. Again, next time...

  I was knocked out by the gameplay and the the quality of the graphics and scenery was breathtaking. As someone far more at home with 2D platforms or racing games, I can't wait to have another go.

  Need for Speed Most Wanted

  Tom
  Most Wanted by name, Burnout Paradise by nature, and 20 Years of Convention out of the Window!

  Most Wanted sees you getting behind the wheels of some of the sexiest cars in the world to then throw them around the City of Fairhaven and the best part, most of the cars are unlocked as soon as you put the disc in, you just need to find them. Driving in Most Wanted is similar to Burnout Paradise, but the cars have a more defined sense of handling, acceleration and speed since they are based on real cars, and they look stunning.

  As you blitz through Fairhaven with up to 7 friends, Autolog will document everything you do so that you can send challenges to your friends for almost anything you do.

  

  Far Cry 3

  Damien
  Bright. Warm. Totally immersive. This first-person sequel has crisp graphics and gameplay that really make you feel like you're on the island, with everything from the effects of the breeze blowing to making your way through leaves and branches moving and reacting realistically. This is a game that truly gives you a sense of being in the first person - and one that really should be played on a high-end PC!

  As one of the more popular games I was only able to get about 10 minutes playing, but during that time I was able to take several different turns and explore several different parts of the island. From lookout posts, to knife-throwing challenges, to hang-gliding and some very vicious guard dogs, the choices of location and action all within mere moments of the respawn point were massive. If the world was this open in just 10 minutes of playing, I can't wait to see what hours of gameplay can offer.

  Plus it was fun to do a first-person game with a bow and arrow for a change!

  

  ZombiU

  Robyn
  First person + dark moody screens + jumpy horror = too creepy for me!

  I declined to play this as I could easily predict I'd upset Nintendo when I launched the GamePad in panic! (I know this as I did exactly that when I first held a real mouse. Ok I was 5, but..)

  So I was happy to watch Kirsten, and I did actually squeal when she was suddenly rushed by Zombies coming swiftly out of the water. She'd been distracted looking at her inventory (as instructed by the game moments earlier), and I can deduce from this that you need to become familiar with the GamePad and get used to referring back and forth swiftly or you'll not survive long.

  I'd like to have a go at playing this in the safety of my own home... if I'm lucky enough for the big fellow in red to drop a black Wii U down my chimney this Christmas. Or at least invite someone with a stomach so I can sit behind the sofa with my cushion and watch them through my fingers!

  God of War: Ascension

  Marc
  Looked fantastic, and played fantastically well, too. It was easy to get to grips with, even for a player who has never played one before. Fast, frenetic and with satisfying button bashing - just what you want in a hack and slash game! The executions were as satisfying as ever and the bosses were amazing - a must for all PS3 owners.

  F1 Race Stars

  Damien
  It's very difficult to talk about this game without comparing it to Mario Kart. many karting games have tried to fill the gap for non-Nintendo gamers, but this may be the surprise title to pull it off.

  F1 Race Stars offers classic karting gameplay, with simple controls and all the fun, charm and addictiveness you'd want - they even manage to throw in the bonus boosts, invincibility and throwing-stuff-at-other-drivers that makes it more than just a racing game. The F1 roots are still on show - get hit too many times or push your car too hard, and you'll need to quickly drive through a pit lane to get back to full working order.

  The drivers and cars may lack the individuality you'd normally get in a game like this, but the tracks - cartoony courses that are like crazy golf interpretations of the real F1 tracks - more than make up for it.

  All in all, this is a fun, addictive karting game that has raced to the top of my must-have list this year. The surprise treat of the day!

  

  Dishonored

  Marc
  The most impressive game at the show for me was Dishonored. Great graphics and gameplay. The multiple ways to complete a level is a great idea, but it was the diversity in how you can go about those multiple ways that I loved the most. it's not just open-world levels, it's open-choice gameplay.
  Everybody walking away from playing it were talking about how good it was, too.

  Robyn
  I really liked the look of this - great visuals giving a real sense of place and intrigue. Watching the others play it, I wanted to get my hands on it too! The swimming was really realistic, and , the effects of the sun in the water as age tried to swim up wowed me, felt errr swimmy! But I wasn't expecting to see Corvo get eaten by a fish in the river!

  Damien
  As well as getting the chance to play games, the developer talks gave us a chance to learn a bit more about the games. For Dishonored, Arkane Studios' Christophe Carrier (Lead Level Designer & Audio Director) and Dinga Bakaba (Assistant Producer & Game Designer) took to the stage to provide a bit of background about the game, and to show that there really are two ways to play it.

  

  In their introduction, Christophe and Dinga told us that Dishonored came out of a love of the first-person game and its combination of stealth and action, and a desire to push the genre further. Gone is the rail-like direction of each level, replaced with a series of open-world levels, designed in a steampunky-style and inspired by plague-era London.

  But the biggest point of the game is the choice is gives the player. You can play it stealthily, hiding in the shadows, using your supernatural abilities for minimal combat and fatalities. Or you can go all-out action, with brutal kills and make use of a brand new arsenal of weapons.

  They proceeded to demonstrate this with the same level we'd played on the floor, with heor Corvo out to kidnap the Royal Physician (described as part da Vinci, part Rasputin) . First it was done with stealth, using back passages and rooftops, and possessing people rather than elimintating them. Or at least that was the theory - one mistake and the whole place was alerted to Corvo's presence and bit more force was needed than originally planned.

  The level was then played in full-on brutal fashion, where no guard was left undamaged (heck, even the maid got it!) and all skills were on display. Decapitation, hacking people limb-from-limb, setting razor mines and stopping time to avoid being shot and take your enemy out were all shown to bloody effect - and rapturous applause in places.

  A few extra tidbits came out of the Q and A session at the end of the demo - it is possible to complete the game without a single kill (except bosses). And, most tantalisingly of all - in the later levels, you'll find out that you're not the only one in Dunwall with supernatural abilities...

  Everything we see makes Dishonored more and more tantalising. Cannot wait to play it!

  Published: 05/10/2012

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